Days of Rivalry
by krisknowsthis
Summary: Nan Blythe shares some interesting characteristics with her mother. For example: Throwing a book at Jerry Meredith's face! Doesn't that seem familiar?


Hey Anne of Green Gables Fans! I'm glad to announce that this is my _first_ published story! I'd love any advice from you oldies out there! Anyhow, I hope you enjoy this story of Nan Blythe and Jerry Meredith.

 _"_ _Don't try to write anything you can't feel – it will be a failure – echoes nothing worth."_

 _~L.M. Montgomery_

* * *

Gilbert Blythe frowned at his daughter in displeasure, but underneath that frown was a smile.

 _"_ _Oh how she reminds me of Anne!"_ he thought to himself.

Twelve year old Nan Blythe looked at her father expectantly with big hazel eyes, waiting for him to scold her. But Gilbert couldn't stop chuckling.

"Why are you laughing dad?" twelve year old Nan Blythe asked curiously.

Her father stopped chuckling and pretended to be angry, "Nan Blythe, please explain to me what happened to the poor lad at school," he demanded, _AGAIN!_

"He made fun of my hair! I don't know why, my hair is brown just like all the other girls in the class. But he made fun of my hair, and said it looked like animal feces! He also pulled my hair! That was absolutely _daring_ and childish for him to do such a thing to me. But father, I couldn't help it. I saw a book lying on my desk and threw it at him."

"And gave him a black eye?" Dr. Blythe asked his daughter examining the note her teacher gave him.

Nan shrugged, "To bad that book _coincidentally_ hit his eye. You know it could have hit his leg, but it _just_ had to hit his _eye_."

"Who is this _he_ you're talking about?"

"Jerry Meredith!" Nan said so dramatically.

"Ahhh!" Gilbert remarked. "He's the eldest son of the new Reverend Paul Meredith, who just moved into the manse."

"Exactly!" Nan answered.

Gilbert thought for a moment, "Well Nan, I've come up with a punishment! You're to walk to the manse and apologize to Jerry right now!"

Nan's eyes widened so much, that it looked as if it were about to fall out.

" _APOLOGIZE?!_ To _JERRY MEREDITH?!_ Father, I can't do that! I promised Jerry that I'll never forgive him ever! How _dare_ he do such a thing to me! Please give me another punishment, like walking through the local cemetery at midnight!"

Gilbert Blythe shook his head and rose his voice, "You do as I say, Anne Elizabeth Blythe!"

Nan startled by her dad's unusual raised voice got up quietly, put on a light sweater, and headed to the manse in regret.

Once Gilbert heard Nan close the front door, he laughed so hard that his wife, Anne who was passing by had to ask him if he was sick.

"I'm fine," he said chuckling.

* * *

Nan marched angrily out of her house, clutching her long sweater, with her long chestnut braids waving in the wind. Some curls framed around her temple.

 _"_ _How am I going to do this?"_ she said to herself clutching her sweater harder.

She finally reached the manse, and sighed as she knocked on the door. To her 'luck,' thirteen year old Jerry Meredith answered the door, his right eye black and purple.

"Need anything, Miss. Blythe?" he said curtly.

Nan, easily angered was enraged by the way he talked to her. "How dare you speak to me like that, you rascal!" she literally screamed.

Jerry was also mad, "After the way _you_ speak to _me,_ you expect _me_ to speak to _you_ politely?" he asked angrily. "What do you need here?"

"Well, I _have_ to say sorry to you because my father told me to," she answered.

Jerry laughed, "Might as well not say sorry. I know you don't want to."

Nan nodded her head fiercely, "You're one hundred percent correct, Jerry Meredith! I'm not sorry, and I'll never be sorry!" She then stomped away.

Jerry sighed as Nan headed back home. He knew his admiration for Nan will never die out.

During dinner of potatoes and roast beef, Nan was unusually quiet, barely eating her dinner. Inside her heart, she felt kind of sorry for being so mean to Jerry, but at the same time she didn't want to see him again!

* * *

"Nan, are you okay?" Anne asked her daughter worriedly.

"The girl is sick!" Susan exclaimed already laying a hand on Nan's head for signs of fever. "Allison McAllister was a girl just around Nan's age. She recently died, and a week before she died, she refused to eat her dinner! Her mother found out that she'd give all her dinner to her fat cat, after it vomited seven meals!" she summarized putting two spoonfuls of potatoes on the girl's plate. "You must eat, or I'll give you castor oil!"

"I'm just not hungry," Nan protested.

"I bet she misses Jerry Meredith!" Jem, her brother joked.

"No I don't!" she snapped back.

"Nan is _sweepy_!" Baby Rilla suggested.

"I just said I'm not hungry. That's all," she said leaving the dinner table.

* * *

Later on that night, Nan was sitting up on her bed thinking, when the door opened, and in came her mother.

"Nan, I'm awfully worried about you," Anne whispered carefully not to wake Nan's twin sister, Dianna who was sleeping soundly on the next bed.

Nan didn't answer so her dear mother continued. "I just know that something didn't turn out well at school. Would you mind telling me?"

Nan sighed and told her mother _everything_ that had happened at school.

"So what you're telling me is that you _want_ to say sorry to Jerry, but you _can't_?" Anne concluded.

Nan shrugged, "I _hate_ Jerry, that's all."

" _Hate_ is a very strong word, Nan," Anne corrected her daughter.

"Then I _loathe, dislike and despise_ Jerry Meredith!" Nan screamed.

"Shhh," Anne warned her daughter, nodding her head to Di who was stirring in her bed. "Tomorrow's a new day, Nan. Maybe _you_ could change it. I promise that if you decide to humble yourself and forgive Jerry, everything will be okay. I specifically went through that as a young girl, so I know what I am talking about."

"Promise?"

"Promise," Anne said, kissing her daughter's head, turning off the lamp and closing the door.

* * *

Nan felt _horrible_ walking to school the next day. She was walking with her siblings, but with also the _Merediths_! The Merediths were a family with four children. Jerry was the oldest, then there was pretty Faith, who Jem couldn't quite get over with. Una was third, quiet and shy and last was Carl, the bug lover. The one who had a jar of cockroaches in his desk!

Jem and Jerry were skipping along, walking, laughing and talking. Jerry now and then would look back at Nan. Faith, Walter, Carl and Di were busy in conversation. Shirley and Una were quietly walking together, no word spoken. Nan Blythe was all by herself, walking. She wasn't the type of girl who didn't talk. In fact, it was the opposite! Nan Blythe was _always_ the center of conversation. She just refused to join the big group because Faith, Nan knew, disliked her, because of what she did to Jerry. And Carl didn't seem to care, but Una-

Just then, Nan's right hand was squeezed. She looked up seeing quiet Una Meredith holding her hand and smiling.

"You look a little bit lonely," Una said. "Would you mind both of us walking with you?"

Nan nodded and silently the three headed to the small but homely school house. Usually, at her school, Nan was very happy with her seating arrangement. She got to sit next to Di! She gaily skipped into the schoolhouse and sat down next to her twin sister.

"Excuse me, Miss. Blythe," her teacher, Mr. Parker said standing in front of Nan's desk. "Weren't you told that you had a different seat?"

Nan's face turned red, as some girls started giggling. "Why no, Mr. Parker," she answered back.

"Well now you do! I wrote the seating arrangement on the board. And if you weren't so ignorant and forgetful, you'd remember that I write every morning assignment on the board. You are to sit right next to Jerry Meredith."

Nan's hazel eyes met Jerry's blue, bruised eyes and both cheeks flushed red. To Nan's amazement, she stayed glued to her seat.

"Miss. Blythe, did you _hear_ me?!" Mr. Parker scolded.

Nan gulped, nodded her head and sat right next to Jerry, her head in her arms the whole day long. . .

* * *

After school, everyone was walking back home with their friends. Nan felt as if her own friends had deserted her. As she was walking home, a hand grabbed her arm. Nan whirled around in confusion, but suddenly frowned as she saw who grabbed her arm—Jerry Meredith!

Before she could even protest, Jerry spoke.

"I'm sorry Nan," he said quietly.

Nan broke loose from Jerry's strong grip, but again, Jerry grabbed her arm.

"Look Nan, I'm frankly sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I'd do _anything_ for you to make it up."

"Okay then," Nan said feistily. "Go away, and don't _ever_ talk to me! That's what you could do." And with a flick of her braids, she turned around and started running back home.

But actually, Nan Blythe didn't go back home. Instead, she ran to Rainbow Valley and cried. She cried out of frustration, anger, annoyance, loneliness, and a little bit of regret. She felt a hand stroke her long brown hair, looking up, Nan noticed Una Meredith looking down at her with loving sea blue eyes.

"It's always nice to have a good cry. Don't you think?" Una said sweetly smiling.

Nan smiled back, but a very forced one. At the same time, Una sat down right beside her.

"It's my brother," she said softly. "Isn't it?"

Nan nodded slowly, but didn't answer.

Una giggled a bit, "Jerry's very hard to deal with, isn't he?"

Nan nodded again without an answer.

"But at the same time, Jerry can be the most faithful friend anyone could ever have," Una said proudly.

"Is that so?" Nan asked questioningly.

Una nodded, as her dark thick braids shook up and down.

"Well," Nan said. "When was he ever faithful to his closest friends?" she asked.

Una's pale blue eyes looked directly into Nan's hazel eyes. "You'll find out, once you become his friend."

And with that, she walked back to the manse, leaving Nan behind thinking. She thought it was already too late to become friends with Jerry, though she now knew inside that she wanted to be his friend. She knew that she would look like a coward if she asked to be Jerry's friend, and being a coward was _certainly not_ in Nan Blythe. And on top of that, _everyone_ was already against her - except Una.

* * *

The whole school week had flew and it was now Saturday. Nan was by herself in a little pond riding a boat. For some reason, she loved boats. They made her feel happy, rowing them around the pond, and catching fish. She was told by her parents that her mother was rescued by her father after her dory had a hole in it. Nan sighed and rowed her boat, in deep thought, not noticing that a large log was afloat in the water. Nan's eyes widened and her whole face became pale. And before she had a chance to do anything else, her boat collided with the large log. The boat had jerked Nan's body into the water, hitting her head awfully and leaving her unconscious.

Nan's eyes fluttered open, she was lying in a boat, and a sweater was wrapped around her body. She winced as she felt her head throbbing in pain. Nan looked up to see her rescuer and was faced with shock. Jerry Meredith was whistling an old tune, rowing the boat Nan was in. At once Nan got up, trying to find a way of escape, but found none.

"You want to hurt yourself again. I'm afraid-"

He stopped short because Nan fainted and fell into the river!

Jerry didn't know what to do—save Nan, or his boat. Jerry quickly dived into the lake and swam towards the unconscious girl. He carried Nan in his arms and wadded to the shore. Meanwhile, his boat already floated away. He looked down at Nan in his arms who was regaining consciousness. She did not run away, or slap him on the face. But instead she stayed put.

"Jerry," she whispered, looking up at him with bright hazel eyes, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Don't worry, I'll get you-"

But again Nan was unconscious. Jerry sighed, looking down at her in soft blue eyes and kissed her pale cheek. And again he sighed, carrying back to her beloved Ingleside home.

* * *

Anne Blythe was sitting on her verandah, enjoying the nature around her. She smiled at the baby lavenders she planted on the lawn. Then, she saw Jerry Meredith walking up the hill, carrying what, or _who_ in his arms? Was it Nan? Oh yes, it was Nan! Anne ran at full speed to the teenager.

"What happened?" she panted looking down at her daughter.

Jerry quickly told the whole story, and Anne rushed them inside. She called Susan, who was upstairs, and her husband who was on a call. Gilbert said he would be back immediately to check on Nan.

Jerry again told Susan the whole story, while Susan fixed him some warm snickerdoodles.

"You look awfully cold. Go upstairs, take a nice bath, and I'll give you some of Jem's clothes to wear," Susan said feeling the boy's head.

Jerry readily obeyed, and when he finished his bath, three delicious snickerdoodles were waiting for him, and a cold glass of milk.

"Nan wants to see you, Jerry. He's in his room," Susan said walking down the stairs.

" _Me?_ " Jerry said surprised.

Susan winked, "Yes you."

Jerry sighed deeply as he approached Nan's bedroom, then quietly crept in. Nan motioned him to sit down by the side of her bed. Jerry thought Nan looked more beautiful than ever. Her long and wavy light brown hair, draped about the silk pillow. She was dressed in a soft cotton nightgown, and her bright hazel eyes looked _desperately_ at him.

There was an awkward moment of silence for a minute or two before Nan spoke.

"Jerry Meredith, I want you to forgive me from my _discourteous, boorish, obscene_ and _nauseating_ behavior towards you. And I ask you if we could reconcile and become great chums. Will you take my _proposition_ into _deliberation_?"

Jerry stared wide-eyed at the pretty girl who was laying down on the bed. Of course he wouldn't refuse to be friends with Nan Blythe! She was the most interesting girl he had ever seen!

Jerry bent down, and kissed Nan's pink lips, once, well actually twice. Nan smiled, the days of rivalry were over!

* * *

Author's note: Hope you enjoyed my first story on ! Stay tuned! I _may_ be making a part 2 of this!

Xoxo,

krisknowsthis


End file.
